1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of computer systems. In one aspect, the present invention relates to the dynamic management of system resources in a distributed computer network environment.
2. Description of Related Art
In conventional computer network applications, particularly telecommunication networks (e.g., the Internet), it is common for an application running at a particular computer to interact with or use another application that may be located at the same computer or at a different computer connected to the network. In addition, technology in the computer area is subject to rapid change, both in the hardware and software technologies that are continually introduced. As a consequence, computer applications in a network environment are often faced with changes in the network environment, whether they be changes in software applications used by a program or changes in hardware (including changing the machines or connections used to run services in the network environment). The challenge of adapting to new technologies resides not only with the end user or client side, but also with the network service provider. For example, an Internet Service Provider (“ISP”) experiences changes in the hardware and software technologies that must be supported, in the expectations of the subscribers, and in the need for service enhancements to respond to competitive pressures.
Where the number of resource users (e.g., clients) are unpredictable, it can adversely affect the performance of the resource (e.g., servers). In addition, where the locations of clients, servers and/or services to change over time, it becomes relatively difficult for clients to access services after relocation of such services within a conventional client/server based computer system. The addition of new services also presents challenges of notifying clients of their availability. Likewise, the large volume and unpredictable nature of the client activity within a network can compound such problems. Conventional client/server based computer systems are unable to track the dynamic location and relocation of services both externally and within the computer system. In view of the foregoing, managing distributed state is a particular challenge to this imperative, since the services need to be able to rely on certain facts about the client state, but also need to avoid the overhead of storing per-client state at the service end.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional systems will become apparent to one of skill in the art after reviewing the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings and detailed description which follow.